


In Your Arms, I Find Comfort

by bitchin_beskar



Series: Requests/Asks [1]
Category: The Mandalorian
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Crying, F/M, Fluff, Hiding Emotions, brief mentions of prostitution, don't hold it in, ignoring bad feelings, mentions of past violence, please talk to someone if you're upset, seriously it's unhealthy, snuggling/cuddling, until it's too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24730489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitchin_beskar/pseuds/bitchin_beskar
Summary: Requested on Tumblr at mindless--ramblings:#13: “Just hold me. Please.”#20: “How long has it been since you’ve slept?”
Relationships: Din Djarin/Reader
Series: Requests/Asks [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771417
Comments: 2
Kudos: 134





	In Your Arms, I Find Comfort

Din startled awake.

He lay in his bed, still as stone, mind racing as he tried to figure out what woke him. He listened carefully, cataloguing all of the usual noises of the Crest in lightspeed. After a few moments of silence, he closed his eyes, only for them to shoot open as he heard the noise once more.

The sound was faint, barely audible over the noise of the Crest’s engines, but he could hear it nonetheless due to the audio amplifiers in his helmet. It was the sound of crying. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his cot, standing up quietly and making his way to the cockpit where the sounds of sobs grew louder. He stood silently in the doorway, peering down at the huddled form in the pilot’s chair. 

You were curled up in his chair, knees tucked underneath your chin, wrapped in some kind of dark fabric. In the light from the stars he could see the tear tracks glistening on your cheeks as you cried. You hadn’t heard him walk up behind you, likely due to the fact that the only piece of beskar on his body was his helmet, the rest of him covered in soft cotton night clothes.

He hovered in the doorway, unsure of how to approach, but your gasping sobs became too much to bear and he stepped forward, resting his hands gently on your shoulders as he stood behind the chair. 

You stiffen abruptly in the seat, your breath hitching as you feel the sudden, warm heat from heavy palms cupping your shoulders. You sit completely still, staring resolutely ahead of you as Din stands behind you, refusing to look back at him, praying that he doesn’t notice your tears. 

His fingers rub soft circles against the skin of your collarbone, and against your will, you relax against the worn leather of the seat, tilting your head back slightly as his fingers slowly drain away the tension you’ve been carrying for weeks. 

For a moment, neither of you speak, simply staring out the transparisteel window at the streaks of starlight. But the silence cannot last forever, no matter how you may wish it did.

“What’s wrong, mesh’la? Why aren’t you asleep?” His voice is low, rough with sleep, and slightly staticky due to the helmet, but to you, it’s the most comforting sound in the world. Still, you can’t answer him, you can’t voice the fear plaguing your mind, for that only makes it all the more real.

Din slowly walks around the chair, hands brushing across the soft skin of your neck as he does so. He gets to his knees in front of you, one large hand cradling your neck, thumb resting gently against your pulse point. You refuse to look at him, biting your lip in an effort to keep your tears at bay, hands clenched in what he now sees is his cape wrapped around you. 

His other hand rests against yours over the fabric of the cape, squeezing gently as he silently begs you to look at him. You finally lower your eyes, staring into the visor on his helmet, eyes shining despite the darkness around you. 

“ _ Please _ , mesh’la,” he whispers, and you have to close your eyes lest more tears fall down your cheeks. His voice is begging you to let him in, and you want to, so,  _ so _ bad, but you’re terrified. You can feel the phantom pressure tightening on your windpipe, cutting off your air as you whimper, and you can feel as Din’s hands tense. 

He presses gently against your pulse point, feeling your heartbeat race, and even though you can’t see his eyes, you can tell he’s looking at you worriedly. “What can I do? Please, tell me what I can do to help you, sweetheart.” 

Looking at the glimmering beskar helmet, you barely have to think before the words make their way out of your mouth. “Just hold me. Please?” 

Din immediately stands, tucking one arm underneath your legs and the other around your waist, pulling you up and out of the seat and into his arms in a bridal carry. He turns, settling himself into the pilot’s chair with you curled comfortably on his lap. You’re tucked sideways on his lap, hands clutching at the soft fabric of his shirt. You tuck your head into his neck, just under the lip of his helmet, pressing your nose into the junction of his neck and shoulder. 

One of his hands rests heavy on your waist underneath his cape, his palm warm and comforting against your skin. His other hand strokes through your loose hair, trying to comfort you. You sit in the silence of space for a while, just listening to Din’s heartbeat. 

As his fingers stroke the skin of your waist, he speaks softly. “Mesh’la,  _ please _ .” You can hear the baritone of his voice from underneath his helmet, too low for the modulator to catch. “What ails you?” He continues to stroke his fingers through your hair, hoping you’ll open up to him.

You know you have to tell him. You should have told him weeks ago, when it had first happened, but every time you’d opened your mouth, terror had seized you, and you’d been unable to speak. You knew he’d noticed you were acting weird, but you’d been good at hiding the true reasons behind your actions. 

You hadn’t been able to sleep through the night since it had happened, instead sneaking up to the cockpit to watch the stars pass by. You’d been trying so hard to be quiet, you didn’t want Din to worry, but the nightmares had been especially terrifying tonight, and you’d been unable to contain your sobs. 

Sighing, you run your fingers lightly over Din’s chest, grounding yourself. “Do you remember when we stopped on Tatooine a few weeks ago?” You have to take a steadying breath. “You were gone for a couple days?”

He hums in remembrance, and you feel the vibrations run through your own body pressed up against his. “W–When I went to Mos Eisley for supplies, I… I... “ Your breath starts to pick up, and you can feel your chest tightening. 

Din’s hands press you harder into his body, holding you against him, as though his strength alone can keep you from falling to pieces. You can feel his jaw clench, the muscles in his neck straining as you keep your face buried there.

“There was a… a Rodian, in the marketplace,” you whisper, eyes clenched shut as you tried to fight off the waves of panic threatening to drown you. “I–I didn’t notice him at first, but… but he noticed me. I was s–standing too close to an alley, trying to remember what else we n–needed when he–” 

A sob erupts from your throat as you begin to cry again. You can hear Din’s breathing, harsh and loud in the quiet cockpit, the modulator crackling with each forceful exhale. His hand on your waist clenches into a fist against your skin, his fingers tighten in your hair, holding you against him as your tears drip onto his skin. 

“ _ Shh _ , mesh’la, it’s alright,” he coos, twisting the chair slightly so that he can rock you back and forth. “It’s okay sweetheart, you don’t have to tell me more.”

You shake your head against his neck, choking out the words through the tears. “N–N–No, I–I need to–need to tell you.” Din falls silent, but continues to rock you back and forth. 

“H–He pushed me into the alley. S–Shoved me against t–the wall, p–put his hand ‘round my–my throat.” Din’s chest rumbled as he  _ growled _ , the noise dark and angry and promising a painful death for the one who hurt you. “He–He kept saying wh–what a p–pretty dancing girl I’d make, f–for–for Jabba, h–how good I–I’d look w–with a collar ‘round my neck, and he k–kept squeezing and squeezing and squeezing–” 

You have to stop, the memories too much as you turn in Din’s lap, throwing your arms around his neck and holding on tight, your entire body shaking as your memories replay over and over in your mind. His fist uncurls, and he wraps his entire arm around your back, anchoring you against his chest as you sob brokenly against his shoulder. 

You can feel Din shaking as well, although his shaking is clearly from anger, not the deep, bone-chilling terror you feel. His hands clutch at you possessively, and it only makes you cry harder. You’d kept this fear, this paralyzing terror in for so long, that now the dam has burst, there’s no going back. 

It takes a long time for your tears to slow, and you slump in Din’s arms. You’re tired–Maker you’re  _ so _ tired, you feel drained, both emotionally and physically. When Din feels you stop shaking, he asks the question that’s been burning in his mind since the words had left your mouth. 

“What happened to the Rodian, sweetheart?” His voice is quiet, and to anyone else, they might mistake his tone for cool indifference. But no, you can hear the undercurrent of anger in his voice, the rage that he’s keeping locked up tight, and you can tell it’s because he doesn’t want you to feel as though he’s angry with you. 

“I stunned him with the stun gun you gave me,” you whisper, and Din feels a swell of pride rise in his chest. Even though you must have been  _ terrified _ , you remembered what he’d taught you, and you’d managed to take out the threat. “I just left him stunned, there in the alley, and I came back to the Crest. I–I had to get out of there, so I–I just w–waited for you. I–I was s–-so scared he was going to find me and I–”

Din shushes you once more, whispering praises as you hold him tight, telling you what a good job you’d done, that he was so proud of you, proud of how brave you’d been, that you’d done the right thing coming back to the Crest. 

He can feel your eyelashes fluttering against his skin as you struggle to keep your eyes open. “How long has it been since you’ve slept?” 

You suddenly tense in his arms, the thought of falling asleep and reliving the nightmares over and over causes you to start to panic. You shake your head, murmuring under your breath, pleading. “No, no, no, please, no, I–I can’t, no–”

Din’s heart shatters as he hears your pleas. “Mesh’la, shh, shh, breathe, sweetheart,  _ breathe– _ ” He uses the hand tangled in your hair to lift your face up slightly, looking at your tired eyes, seeing the dark bags underneath, the absolute exhaustion clear in your features, but also the fear, strong enough to override the tiredness.

“Come lay with me,” he whispers, bringing a finger to your lips when you whimper in fear. “You don’t have to sleep, but at least come lay down with me.” You eye his visor suspiciously, but Din must see the reluctant acceptance in your eyes, because he stands up from the pilot’s chair, You let out a small squeak at the unexpected movement, but Din is already moving, walking towards his cot in the back of the Crest. 

He lays you down carefully, tucked against the metal hull of the ship. You roll onto your side, facing the wall, and you listen as the blankets rustle behind you as Din slides in under the blanket. He scoots forward, and winds and arm around your waist, bringing your back solidly against his chest. Your head is tucked under his chin, the metal lip of his helmet resting gently against your hairline. His legs intertwined with yours, his hand flat against your stomach, you take a few deep breaths, trying to relax. 

Din’s slow and steady breathing against your back helps to keep you calm, and unable to fight it, your eyes slowly slide closed. And for the first night in weeks, the nightmares don’t come. 

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr, mindless--ramblings! Feel free to request any prompts from the list posted there! I'll be working on any requests I get in between chapters in the I See Starlight series. I hope you enjoy this one-shot!


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